Dress-shield.



PATBNTED OCT. 8, 1907z M. H. MOMANN.

l DRESS SHIELD, APPLIUATION FILED Arms, 1905.

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MARGARET H. MCMANN, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

DRE SS-SHIE LD.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct. 8,v 1907.

Application led April 8,1905. Serial No. 254,526.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, MARGARET H. MCMANN, a citizen of the United States, residing at No. 160 East Thirtyseventh street, New York, in the county of New York and State of New York, have invented new and useful Improvements in Dress-Shields, of which the following is a specification.

The invention relates to an improvement in dress shields and particularly to a reinforcing strip to prevent wrinkling or creeping of the shield in use.

The main object of the invention is the provision of a reinforcing ora strengthening strip to be bound or otherwise secured in the edge of the shield to prevent folding or wrinkling of the shield in use, without interfering with the pliability or usual shape of the shield.

The invention will be described in the following specification with particular reference to the accompanying drawings, in which Figure l isa view in elevation partly broken4 out showing my improved dress shield, Fig. 2 is a sectional view on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1, and Fig. 3 is a detail perspective of the reinforcing strip.A

rial 3 included within the textile wrapping or cover 4,

it being vunderstood that the wrapping wholly includes the impervious material, the shield, as in ordinary form, having the upper concaved edge 5, to iit beneath the arm, and the roundedl edge 6.

The reinforcing strip or stay 7 comprises a narrow approximately semicircular section, preferably molded, cut or stamped from a sheet of rubber or Celluloid or other suitable material such as linen covered with rubber, celluloid or the like. In securing this stay in place it is preferably alined with the curved edges 6 of each fiap and secured thereto by a binding strip 8, which forms a pocket to inclose the stay and also the edge of the shield, as clearly shown in Fig. 2. 'lhe ends of the stay terminate near the top portion of the shield, as at 9, and the binding strip 8 is preferably reinforced by strips 10, at the ends thereof, whereby to prevent said stay ends from breaking through their binding.

It is understood that a stay is provided for each flap of the shield and that each stay is independently and separately secured in place. For comfort in use I prefer to secure the stays on the contiguous face edges or of the flaps, as illustrated in Fig. 2.

The essence of the invention resides in the use of a flat reinforcing strip which is stiff enough to hold the shield in shape and yet flexible enough to prevent discomfort to the wearer and which is non-metallic, rust proof, impervious to moisture or perspiration, and capable of being washed withoutl removing the same from the shield.

It is essential that the reinforcing strip 7 be stamped from sheet material or otherwise shaped permanently to lit the edges of the shield; otherwise said strip would destroy the proper fit of the shield.

As stated the stay is preferably composed of rubber, Celluloid', or a stiffened substance covered with rulober, Celluloid or the like, the main purpose being to construct a stay that is light and will not rust when dampened by perspiration in use. The stay is thin and comparatively flexible and in no way interferes with the washing or ironing of the shield.

By the use of the stay the shield flaps are rendered comparatively stiff, and it is not necessary to sew the shield to the waist except at the extreme upper ends,

and I prefer to use a small safety pin 11 at said ends for the attachment of the shield to the waist.

It will be understood that in using the usual form of dress shields, it is necessary to stitch the entire shield to the waist; in other words, the entire edge of both flaps of the ordinary shield is stitched to the waist in order to hold the same in proper position. According to my invention wherein the stay serves to hold the shield in shape, it is necessary only to attach the shield to the waist by means of a small pin or a few stitches at the ends of the stay. For this reason when it is desired to change the waist or to wash the shield, no difficulty is experienced in removing the shield, whereas in the old forms of shields it is necessary to Withdraw a large number of stitches each time it is desired to remove the shield to permit the washing of the waist or the shield. Furthermore after the waist has been washed and it is desired to replace'the old forms of shields, it is necessary to stitch the entire shield in place again, this operation being found in practice to consume much time and labor. It will be apparent therefore that my improved shield which is adapted to be secured in position by a safety pin or a few stitches at the upper edgesl thereof constitutes an important improvement over the old forms of shields.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new, isz- A dress shield comprising arm and body aps constructed of a single length of material formed in duplicate plies, and a layer of impervious material included between the plies, in combination with a binding strip secured to and curved throughout the length of the curved edges of each flap, said binding strip being spaced from the face of one ply of each flap to provide a pocket, the respective pockets being arranged on proximate surfaces of the naps, a reinforcing strip loosely seated in each pocket, and a reinforcing section overlyingthe pockets at each end of each reinforcing strip, said sections being secured to the respective flaps.

In testimony whereof, I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

MARGARET H. MCMANN.

Witnesses ANTONIO FERME, ANNETTE HARRIGAN. 

